More Danger to Power
by Veronica Mitchell
Summary: Cassandra Tera has immense power, but she's worked to remain neutral and unnoticed despite living in the middle in the middle of a war in which both sides would give anything to have her fighting at their side. But after an attack on Hogwarts itself will all her hard work be in vain? WIP. I'm currently working on editing.
1. Prologue

**YOU SHOULD ALL TOTALLY READ THIS!**

**IT'S BEEN EDITED, LIKE, A LOT!**

A/N: Okay, so I was looking for my Word file of this chapter and discovered that I'd lost it because it was on a flash drive that I was using for school stuff last year and, well, lost. Actually, that probably means I've lost all of my fanfiction Word files. S***! Whatever. I was going to update this story, but I wanted to read all of it first and I couldn't find my handwritten version of the first chapter either (that's what I get for writing it at school). Long story short, I was manually copying it from the fanfiction site and kind of edited it along the way. For those of you that have read it already, I think you'll like this version better because the first meeting with Snape is better and the Cassandra character as whole is just better represented here (in my opinion). Whatever, leave me your thoughts, please?

More Power to Danger Prologue

Snape POV

It was the first of September, also known as the first day of term for those that are affiliated with Hogwarts' School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Sitting next to me was Gilderoy Lockhart, the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher thanks to Quirrell's death at Potter's hands. Lockhart was preening like a bloody peacock from all the attention he was getting from the students, females in particular. The Headmaster droned on as he usually does as he welcomed everyone back before summoning McGonagall to start the sorting ceremony.

As the first year walked in with the Transfiguration mistress I felt a wave of unrestrained, pure magic, it was breath-taking. My eyes hunted for the source of the magic. Surely it couldn't have belonged to a first year; if it had there wouldn't have been a mere wave, but a hurricane constantly bombarding everyone around them with pure magic, and I would have no trouble discerning the source. No, one of the older students must have let it slip. Yet – even though I would never admit it aloud – Potter is the only student currently attending that has the _potential_ of harnessing that much magic.

I scanned each of the first years as McGonagall called them up and dropped the bewitched hat on top of their heads, but I saw no hint of anything on any of the faces. Near the end the Deputy Headmistress called, "Tera, Cassandra." A girl with long, dark hair walked up to the stool and had the Hat placed on her head like all the others, yet unlike the others, the Hat paused before saying, "We need to balance the power. SLYTHERIN! May you bring back the pride to your house."

The Hat was removed and the next student called but my gaze remained on the girl. She walked calmly over to the Slytherin table and was welcomed with polite smiles and nods of acceptance just like all the students are. As she took her seat she seemed to feel my gaze and her eyes rose to meet mine. I felt a surge of power unlike any I had felt before, it wasn't colored by hateful emotions. In fact, it wasn't colored by any emotions at all, except maybe the barest hint of curiosity.

The rest of the meal passed without incident. Before dismissing everyone Dumbledore said a few words, probably reminding everyone of basic rules, welcoming the first years a final time and instructing them to follow the prefects to the dorms – I couldn't be sure, I'd stopped listening to what the Headmaster said during meal times while I was a student and never found it necessary to drop the habit. As soon as Dumbledore was finished I was out of my seat and exiting the Great Hall through the door behind the Head Table. I took the short cuts to the dungeons in order to get there before the group of prefect-led first years. I met them in the hall before the dormitory. "Miss Tera, you need to come with me." The girl looked up when she heard her name but didn't move to follow me. "Come along," I told her sharply as I led her into my classroom. "Do you know why you're here?" I asked her as she entered behind me.

She looked at me for a moment before surveying her surroundings. "Because you brought me here," she answered flatly. I sneered at her. She sighed. "No, sir, I don't know, actually."

That smart-mouth was so different from the serenity and innocent curiosity evident in her magic I was surprised – and disappointed. Someone as powerful as I believe her to be can't afford to be irrational or quick tempered. "You're here because you possess immense that no one your age has any business even trying to control. If I think for a _moment _you're unable to cope with, control or otherwise deal with this power I won't hesitate to lock it away, but I'm going to _attempt_ to teach you how to control it before I go such extremes, is that understood?"

She nodded without looking at me. "Yes, sir," she said quietly.

"Look at me," I demanded.

She hesitated before looking me in the eye, and again I felt that surge of pure, yet serene power. "Dumbledore would turn you into a pawn for his 'greater good', and I wouldn't care if you had been placed into any other house," well, I would because in the wrong it's quite possible she could destroy the world as we know it, "but you were put in mine so it's now my job to make sure that that doesn't happen, do you understand?"

"Of course, so what do we do first?" she said with a smirk.

I could feel myself smirking, too. "I'm going to give you lessons to teach you Occlumency which will help you mask your power but until you have at least basic shield built you need to avoid making eye contact with Dumbledore, everyone if you can, but especially him. We're going to put a block in your magic," I raised my hand to cut off her protests. "It will be a semi-permanent block, adjustable so that over the years, as you learn, you can have more access to your magic until you've learned to control all of it." She nodded her understanding.

"Eventually I will teach you to mask your strength, so that when all of your magic is released you don't attract unwanted attention." It would be a large undertaking but worth it to keep a powerful Slytherin out of the lime-light.

"How long will it take? For me to learn all of this I mean?"

"That depends wholly on how much you apply yourself. For certain students it would be impossible for me to teach them these skills."

She blew out a sigh. "Great. When do we start?"

"We will establish the bind tonight, that is essential. Everything else can wait … until tomorrow."

It took her six months to master Occlumency, it turned out she had a natural affinity for it. By the end of the year she'd mastered masking to the point where – when she wanted to – she could be mistaken for a muggle.

Still, we continued our sessions, and for five years she stayed out of the Headmasters plans.


	2. Unexpected Changes

**EDITED VERSION!**

Chapter Two

Cassandra POV

It was the first day of my fifth year at Hogwarts. Snape had sent me a letter a couple weeks ago saying that Dumbledore had decided against finding yet another Defense teacher this year (after what happened with Umbridge I was hardly surprised at the lack of applicants), and had instead decided to finally give him his preferred position. Snape had sent this under the guise of informing that the location of his office had changed, of course. Unfortunately, this meant that – while I was getting a competent Defense teaching for once – the chances that I would get also have a competent Potions instructor were very slim.

The bright side of all of this I suppose, is that, with Umbridge gone, Snape and I could once again have our private lessons on a regular basis; regardless of the fact that I had long ago met and surpassed our original goals we still met so that he could teach me things that he thought I'd be interested in. It was almost as if I was his apprentice.

I was contemplating all of this when the train pulled into the Hogsmeade, I had yet to change into my school robes so I told my friends that I'd catch up with them later. After I'd changed I sat down on the floor of the train compartment and prepared to meditate; every year I put a temporary bind for the summer so that I don't start using accidental magic and get kicked out of school. It only took a few moments for me to get down to the level where the bind was and remove it. I imagine it's like taking an off an elastic that's holding my hair up, or removing a tourniquet so that the blood can flow freely again. I lingered after I'd finished, enjoying the peace and quiet. I had to fight the temptation of going deeper into my core; I was considering the idea of going deeper to back off the semi-permanent bind when I sensed a disturbance in the outside world.

As I emerged from my meditative state I heard voices, familiar, male voices, outside of my compartment. I couldn't quite make what they were saying. I hesitated before standing up and opening the door. There in the hall of the train stood the Ice Prince of Slytherin himself, Draco Malfoy, and on the floor at his feet lay the Chosen One, Harry Potter.

Malfoy looked up as he heard the door opening; he had his wand pointed at Potter. He smirked at me, probably noticing the Slytherin emblem on my robes. "I was just taking care of a pest that was spying on me, there's no need to report it to anyone."

I glanced between the two of them, taking in the situation fully: Potter wasn't just lying on the ground; he'd been stunned and was out cold. "I think there might be a reason to report it. That is Harry Potter, after all."

"Oh, come on. You can't be one of those Potter fanatics; you're a Slytherin!" Malfoy said.

"Yes, I am a Slytherin, and no I'm not a Potter fanatic." I sighed. "I just don't think anyone will be happy when it's realized that Harry Potter isn't at the welcoming feast and they send out a search party. What were you planning on doing with him anyway? You can't kill him because we're under the Hogwarts' wards even if we aren't actually in the castle proper so they'll know that an Unforgivable was cast and that you were the one who cast it. Even if you don't kill him and just leave him on the train he'll be able to put two and two together and tell everyone you did this to him. I don't think that that kind of attention is good for anyone."

Malfoy glared at me, "Why do you care? Who are you anyway?"

I decided that I'd had enough of this conversation because I didn't want to be dragged into this war after all Snape had done to keep me out of it so I just shrugged, grabbed my stuff and walked off the train. I waited in the alley and saw Malfoy walk past me, headed toward the castle. I sighed again thinking, _Why do I have to be such a good person, with such a demanding conscience? _I got back on the train and woke Potter from his little nap, and left before he could catch a glimpse of me.

I walked the path to the school and saw Professor Flitwick standing at the gate. "Name," he requested.

He'd been teaching for four years but I doubt he'd ever be able to get match my name to my face on the first try, so instead of arguing I simply said, "Cassandra Tera."

He glanced up in surprise. "Why are you late?"

I put on my most sincere smile and said, "I just missed the last carriage and did the stupid thing and waited for another to show up."

All Flitwick did was sigh and shake his head. I gave a small smile before walking past him. I felt someone grab my bag and I automatically went for my wand. The stranger raised his hands in to show he wasn't armed. "I'm an auror. I'm checking everyone's bags for any dark magic," he explained.

I blushed and said, "Sorry."

He chuckled. "It's fine. Why is a second year so jumpy though?"

_Second year?! _Seriously? I know I'm small for my age but I do not look like a second year. I decided against replying, let idiot make they're assumptions. You what they say about assumptions…

"Miss Tera why are you so late?" Snape barked as he approached from the direction of the school.

"Sorry Professor," I didn't tell my lie to him because we'd agreed long ago to be truthful with one another.

He just nodded and gave me a look that told we'd be talking about it later before his gaze drifted over my shoulder. "Mister Potter, what a surprise, your fan club was getting worried," Snape said sarcastically.

Flitwick didn't even bother to ask Potter for his name, he just let him walk past and give his belongings to the auror. The auror had looked up at the name and asked, "What happened to your face?"

I turned around to see that Potter had a bloody nose; I guess Malfoy had done some damage, but nothing a simple spell couldn't fix. "I guess I ran into something," Potter replied with a shrug. I could almost feel Snape holding back a particularly biting comment, probably because I was too.

I turned to continue my trek to the castle but stopped me by saying, "I don't think so, Miss Tera. I believe we'll all walk back together; after all, there are many dangers these days. We wouldn't want Potter to walk into another immobile object and break something more important than his nose, now would we?" Apparently he didn't have much luck holding it in. "Come on, Potter; we wouldn't want you to miss the whole feast."

"Coming Professor." As soon as the words left Potter's mouth Snape was walking in the direction of the castle, leaving me behind to walk with Potter who rolled his eyes at Snape before falling into step beside me. Well, until he noticed the Slytherin colors of my robes that is, than he walked in front of me.

When we go to the front doors Snape held me back by saying, "A word, Miss Tera." As soon as Potter was out of earshot Snape dropped the act, "Meet me in my office immediately after the feast. Don't dawdle." With that he stormed off with his robes billowy behind him.

I didn't bother attending the welcoming feast; instead I went straight to Snape's new office. I scanned the new bookshelves situated on all walls of the room, looking for that book I'd been reading at the end of last year; I hadn't been able to take it home with me because wouldn't have been able to perform the proper translation spells to read it and any copies made would simply disintegrate after a twenty-four hours.

I was sitting in Snape's chair – the only chair in his office actually bearable to sit in for long periods of time – reading when he walked in. He motioned for me to stand as he made his way to one of the bookshelves, pushed in an autographed copy of one of Gilderoy Lockhart's books (the deplorable fraud). The bookshelf rotated ninety degrees to reveal the familiar setting of Snape's living room, as we walked through there was the faint sensation of stepping not simply from one room to another, but from one section of the castle to an entirely different one. Obviously, while the Potions' Master had been open to moving his lessons to the traditional Defense classroom he hadn't been very receptive to the idea of moving into the connecting staff quarters. I can't really say I blame him though, considering it probably still smelled like Umbridge and cats.

After we'd settled into our customary places, Snape asked, "Now, why exactly were you late this evening?"

"I lost track of time on the train ride here, and was late because I had to change and remove the summer bind," I explained slowly.

"You're saying that you haven't consciously touched the semi-permanent bind?"

I bristled. "For the past four years I've followed your advice and waited for you to judge how far I should move it, why would I do something different this year? And you know I meditate daily, especially during the summer, to ensure that the binds – neither the semi-permanent nor the summer – slip."

Snape glared at me. "Then explain to why you appear to be projecting magic at everyone open enough to receive it? It's almost as bad as the first night I met you."

I was shocked. I didn't project magic, not anymore at least. I had built shields to stop that from happening. I'd even learned to control my emotions so that there was no chance of emotion-fueled magic over-powering my shields and breaking free. (Surprisingly, the former had been a lot harder than the latter.) "Is it possibly just because it's just it's been idle for months on end? You know how it is at the beginning of the school year." At the beginning of the school year when my peer are working on getting their magical-endurance back to what it was at the end of the previous school year, I'm working on exhausting all the excess magical energy that's built up over the summer so that I don't accidently blow something up or kill someone or something.

He seemed to consider the idea before saying, "Doubtful. Even magic built-up over months shouldn't be enough to over power, or by-pass, your shield like this seems to have done."

I sighed. Yippee, another magic anomaly by yours-truly. "So what do we do to fix it?"

"We have to find the problem first." He stared into the unlit fire-place for a moment, thinking over whatever decision he was about to make. "We're going to do something we haven't done in a long time," he said before turning to look at me. "You're going to go down to your core, but you're going to take me with you so I can try and find the over-flow, or break in the semi-permanent bind."

I nodded. He was right, we hadn't done that in a while, but we had done it before, many times. Seeing my nod he stood and motioned for me to do the same. He summoned to meditating pads and sat cross-legged on one; I followed his example and was soon settled on my mat facing him. "Lower your barriers," he instructed.

I closed my eyes and delved within myself, not really entering meditation fully yet not quite staying fully aware of the outside world either. I found what I referred to as my "command tower", the place where I could strengthen, manipulate, and – as I'd come to do – lower my mental barriers. Lowering my mental barriers wouldn't give my magic free range as it had had when I was younger but it would allow any Legilimens to sense my power more easily, and access to my mind. Once I was once again as defenseless as I had been the first time I had walked into this room, I opened my eyes. Immediately, Snape was in my head and, not unkindly, reminding me what needed to be done.

As I had done so many times before, I descended into the very depths of my soul, my core. I loved being at my core. The peace and serenity; the quiet, stillness was all perfect. It was a perfect balance of all the elements of life I held dear: life was represented in the cool blue waters of the pond, the multitudes of fish that swam in it, the cool green grass, and the hippogriffs that ran wild across the plains; curiosity was needed to discover all the wondrous, hidden places; cunning was found in the octopus I _knew_ lived at the bottom of the pond even though I'd never seen it; knowledge was in the wind that painted the most beautiful pictures for me, the that birds sang to me, and the grass that whispered its wisdom to me; and yet the most fascinating element of my core was the darkness, the secrets hidden in the hollows of trees, caves hidden in the cliff just barely distinguishable through the thick fog.

I opened my eyes expecting to see all of these familiar sites, but instead I saw a white light shooting from the pond to the sky, blinding me. I looked away to see my haven drastically transformed: the cool blue waters of the pond had disappeared completely, and the fish that it had been home to swam in the light; no longer limited to the water, they followed the light to the sky. The hippogriffs had stopped their care-free running to bow before me; the wind had stopped its ever-present breeze, and with it went its pictures and the grass' whispers. Most frightening of all however, was the eradication of the fog that had concealed the cliff and the shadows. It was as if all the darkness had condensed and solidified into a form that stood directly between me and the pillar of light.

I couldn't quite make out what it was, this solid shadow. It didn't bow down before me as the hippogriffs were doing, it stared at me with eyes that glowed, pure and bright as the light it was guarding.

**A/N: Okay, I know I'm insane and I know everyone likes TGWLWIBM better, but… Well, for some reason I'm really excited about this story right now so I'm going to run with it. I know this doesn't end where the original chapter 2 does, but it is sooooo much more awesome I think you'll forgive me. Because of this fact and because I don't know how fast I can get the next rewritten chapter up I'm going to actually leave the old one up BEHIND this so you're not totally confused going into chapter 3. **

**For those of you in the US, (just in case I don't get the next part up by Thursday) Have a Happy Thanksgiving! I'm going to go to sleep now!**


	3. The Explaination

**EDITED VERSION!**

It took me a moment to process all the changes in my core before I remembered that I'd brought Snape down with me. I looked around for him to find his face expressionless as he took everything in. After he'd finished mentally cataloguing every detail he said, "I do believe it's time for us to go."

With one last glance at the shadowed figure guarding the pillar of light I nodded and slowly extracted us both from deep within my being. Once I had ascended back to the physical world I tried to calm myself, to forget – just for a moment – the drastic changes that had taken place in my core without my permission or knowledge; I focused on the physical things I could sense around me: the feel of the meditating pad beneath me, the scent of sandalwood and fluxweed emanating from Professor Snape, and the cool, damp dungeon air. When I felt sufficiently calm I opened my eyes to find that Snape had vacated his mat in order to pace in front of the fire place.

"Professor?" I queried, hesitating. "Why has it changed? Why would it change on its own like that?"

"It's changed?" He demanded as he whirled to face me.

I moved from my own mat onto the couch I had been sitting on previously. Years ago when he'd first instructed me on how to reach my core, one of the first things he'd told me was that if there was ever something I wanted to add to my core, something would make me feel more at peace while I was there, I could. I'd experimented, at first, with adding doubles of things in the physical world that helped calm me, things that reminded me of home, but nothing I added really seemed to fit in or fulfil a purpose, so the next time I came it would have disappeared and I never bothered replacing any of it.

"Dramatically." I paused before asking, "Professor, that shadow, guarding the light, what was it?" I had many more questions, but that seemed like a good one to start with.

Snape turned on his heel and walked toward one of the bookshelves that lined the walls, his long fingers skimmed over the leather spines of the old tomes. He stopped at a book much smaller than its neighbors, both in thickness and height. Book in hand he returned to his usual chair, vanishing the mats with an absent wave of his wand. "Miss Tera, have you ever wondered why you are so much more powerful than everyone else?"

"Sometimes. If I was a pureblood people would say it's because of good breeding, but since I'm a muggleborn I guess it's just luck of the draw."

He seemed to consider my answer before running his hand over the cover of the book as he said, "There's a strong possibility that you aren't actually a muggleborn, Cassandra." He looked up at me before continuing, "The changes in your core seem consistent with what is known about the changes that take place when an Empyreal Nymph starts approaching their sixteenth birthday."

"What are you talking about?" By this point I'd gotten up and was doing some pacing of my own. "I'm not some _Nymph_, I'm a witch. You've been teaching me for years, you know I'm a witch, and a damn good one at that!"

"Cassandra."

That was it. That one word was all it took for me to stop fuming long enough to realize that my long hair was whipping across my face from an unnatural wind, various objects throughout the room were either vertiginously spinning in midair or shaking violently, a fire had appeared in the fireplace and was creating nonsense images, and the torches on the walls were changing colors in time with the pounding of my heart.

Again, I forced to take a deep breath and close my eyes, focusing on what I could sense around me: The rapid beat of my heart; the faint scent of leather, burning wood, and my apple-blossom shampoo; and the solid feel of the stone floor beneath my shoes. By the time I felt it was safe to reopen my eyes my heart beat had returned to normal and Snape had prepared tea. "Thank you," I said as I accepted a cup filled with more milk and honey than actual tea.

"Cassandra, you have to keep control. I'm aware that this is a shock, but it's important, now more than ever, than you don't draw attention to yourself. Empyreal Nymphs are very powerful and very rare; either side would give almost anything to have you fighting for their cause."

"But why?" Dang it, now it sounds like I'm whining. "Why is it so different now that we've discovered I might be some kind of nymph?"

He seemed to have to consider his answer. "Do you remember when I was trying to teach you basic dark magic? Do you remember how hard it was, compared to everything else I've taught you? Remember how exhausted you felt?" After seeing my nod he continued, "That's because Empyreal Nymphs don't have any Dark Magic in their core, it's all White Magic. To do even the simplest of Dark spells you have to manufacture the Dark Magic from your environment. It's said that Empyreal Nymphs can perform special spells due to the absence of Dark Magic in their core, spells that repel even the darkest, most powerful spells. Theoretically, these spells are handed down through the generations either verbally or in some kind of book. Unfortunately, the last known Empyreal Nymph died three hundred years ago attempting to harvest unicorn horns. Obviously the shmuck was trampled and didn't live to see the light of another day."

I couldn't help laughing at the last bit. "Why would someone try to harvest a unicorn horn off of a live unicorn? Especially someone that's supposed to repel dark magic."

Snape gave what could be considered a smile, "His journals were found several years later by someone looking to tear down his house, claiming it as a health hazard. It's said that he was attempting to develop a potion that would allow him to more easily draw dark magic from his surroundings; little did he know that, had he finished the potion, it would've killed him instantly due to the number of dark ingredients it contained. It was also found out that he had poisoned himself with his previous attempts at the same such potion."

As alarming as this news was it explained _so much_: why I had to wear gloves when handling certain potions ingredients; why I found Defense Against the Dark Arts so much more draining than all my other classes (some days it even made me physically ill, especially third year when Professor Moody was teaching); why I always felt so miserable all through second year, when the dementors were hanging about the school. What it didn't explain, though, is why my parents, whoever they were, would abandon me. In fact, it made the question of who my parents were even more important.

"So what was the shadow? What does it represent?" So many questions, so little time…

Snape handed me the small book he'd been caressing. "This should answer some of your questions. It's the leading resource for Empyreal Nymphs." He looked toward the clock situated beside one of the doors leading off into another room; it was minutes away from hitting "curfew". "You should head to your dorm. Remember, a low profile is even more important this year."

I nodded and made my way out through the Defense classroom before descending the numerous flights of stairs to the Dungeons. As I entered the Slytherin common room I was met with the sight of Draco Malfoy, the Slytherin Prince, waiting for me.

Maybe Snape's warning about a low profile came a little too late.


	4. A Warning and a Dunderhead

**EDITED VERSION!**

**ACTUALLY CHAPTER THREE OF THE ORIGINAL VERSION.**

Chapter Four

No one else acknowledged my entrance; Malfoy walked over, grabbed my wrist and pulled me to one of the secluded corners of the common room. "You weren't at the feast and no one can tell me anything about you besides the fact that you're a fifth year. Who are you?"

I looked directly into his eyes and said quietly, "Does it really matter who I am? All you need to know about me is that I'm neither a threat nor an ally; friend nor foe. I'm Switzerland, neutral. I'm nobody." With that I made my way, quick, to the girls' dormitory.

Only after I'd made it to the safety of my bed, surrounded by the familiar green curtains, soft blankets, and the comforting scent of vanilla, did I finally start to breathe again. I could barely suppress a giggle. I'd just shocked Draco Malfoy into silence; oh, the look on his face …

Sure, after he'd recovered he'd be even more curious than ever before, but that would be Snape's problem.

The next day at breakfast we got our class schedules. First thing I had Potions with Slughorn, what joy. According to Snape we'd be lucky if he got through the year without seriously injuring someone. _Why would Dumbledore allow this dunderhead to come back if he was begging, let alone _ask _him to do so?_ I thought as I munched on a piece of jam covered toast.

I left breakfast and returned to my dorm to fetch the books I would need for that morning's classes. When I reentered to the common room Snape was waiting for me. He motioned for me to follow him, and a couple minutes later I found myself in Snape's new office, which still reeked of Umbridge's perfume (some overpowering combination of rose, lavender and … cat nip?) "Merlin, isn't there something you can do about the smell?" I asked as I sat in the leather visitor's chair.

"Sadly, the perfume appears to be charmed to stay fragrant, and she evidently doused the whole bloody room. I'm working on a potion to neutralize the scent but it will take at least one moon cycle to brew," Snape said as he sat down.

Scowling, he turned to the main topic of conversation, "Mr. Malfoy paid me a visit last night after curfew, would you care to hazard a guess as to the object of discussion, Miss Tera?"

I took a second to consider how I wanted to play this, I could be sarcastic and piss him off even more or I could play it meek and hope he doesn't yell at me too much. "Me?"

"Yes, do you know why he would come asking about you?" Snape raised an eye brow.

I glanced away. "I may have stopped him from seriously injuring and/or killing Potter."

Snape looked taken aback. "Explain," he demanded.

"Potter was spying on Malfoy on the train, I guess. I'd stayed to take off the summer bind, and when I was finished I heard people outside of my compartment. Low and behold, I opened the door to find Draco Malfoy pointing his wand at an unconscious Harry Potter. All I did was tell him that it would be stupid to kill Potter," I really did like having to explain myself, especially to Snape.

Snape just nodded. "Malfoy came and asked about you, he didn't know your name, just said that you were a fifth year Slytherin girl, and that you had used what he assumed was a muggle reference; I told him I'd look into it. You usually know better than to get yourself involved."

I sighed. "Just because I'm neutral doesn't mean I want the world to come crashing down around me. If Malfoy had killed Potter last night we both know the world would shake, not because of the blasted prophecy but because every war needs an icon or an idea to stand behind and some idiot decided a sixteen year old boy would be perfect for this one." We'd had this discussion before and we both knew that if Potter died some, maybe even most, would give up and stop fighting.

"Yes, well, you better get to Potions. And do try to make sure nobody is seriously injured on the first day, Miss Tera, it would be a horrible way to start the year," Snape said as he dismissed me.

I nodded and made my way back to the dungeons. Students were milling about the hallways trying to savor the last few minutes before the new term _really_ began. By the time I made it to the Potion's classroom Slughorn was letting the students in; the man looked like Santa Claus after a trip to the barber, except instead of joy his eyes were empty, blank.

"Come now, take a seat, take a seat. Today we're going to be brewing Forever Lasting Scent. This potion is added to perfumes so that they don't have to be repeatedly applied. Of course, there is a neutralizing potion." Slughorn said as he wrote the instructions on the board. I knew the potions was in the text book and simply flipped to it, doing a mental check of my potions kit, trying to figure out if I needed to use any ingredients from the cupboard. "Oh, you might want to work in pairs for this potion, it's a bit tricky. Well, go on, get started; you don't have all week," Slughorn added almost as an afterthought.

_Tricky?_ Did he not read his class schedule that said we were _fifth years_? I know the potion was in out text book but that doesn't mean it's at our skill level, I fumed as I diligently set to work on the laughable assignment. Half an hour later I was reading the book Snape had given to me the night before on Empyreal Nymphs, covered; of course, by my charms text. "Well, what do we have here, hmm?" Slughorn asked as he peered over my shoulder to look into my cauldron. He grabbed the spoon sitting beside it to check the consistency. "Perfect color and consistency; a perfect potion, Miss . . .?"

"Tera. Cassandra Tera," I answered, barely glancing up from my book.

"Yes, well, why don't you vial it and be on your way then?" Slughorn suggested with a smile before moving on to the next station.

I carefully put the potion into vials before vanishing the gunk left over in the bottom of the cauldron; I finished cleaning the station and grabbed my books before leaving the classroom. Since I had another thirty minutes to kill before Charms I headed to the library.

Madam Pince, the school librarian, was at her normal post by the door. "Aren't you supposed to be in class?" she asked suspiciously.

I suppressed an eye roll and replied, "Slughorn," by way of explanation.

Apparently she understood because she nodded and let me pass. I walked through the familiar rows of shelves, inhaling the scent of ancient parchment, polished wood, and the faint smell of ink. I went straight back to one of the secluded corners that held an old leather, padded chair and a charmed window that could change give you any view of the castle grounds you desired.

So, surrounded my haven I continued reading about, well, me.


	5. Lessons

Chapter Five

The next two weeks passed uneventfully: Malfoy ignored me, Potter glared for reasons unknown and Slughorn – for those of us that actually had _working _brains – bored. It was as if he chose the easiest potions so he didn't have to worry about us blowing ourselves up, which, I assume, would reflect poorly on his teaching ability.

I'd read the book on Empyreal Nymphs all the way through twice and Snape was right, it did answer most of my questions. So, on the second Tuesday morning of the new term I wrote Snape a letter that simply stated,

_I've finished my assignment and wish to discuss it._

_-C Tera_

I sent it with one of the school owls that was hanging about, asking for an extra treat before leaving for the owlery. His reply came with a similarly anonymous, school owl:

_My office. Tonight. Directly after dinner._

Short and sweet. Well, they say brevity is the soul of wit.

I left the Great Hall a few moments after seeing Snape make his leave. After a short walk I arrived in the Defense classroom, a room very different from Snape's Potions' classroom; with the window letting in natural light and the cathedral ceiling it had an openness that was never present in the Potions' classroom due to its dungeon location and the separation that the individual lab stations imposes.

My knock at the office door received a terse, "Enter." When I opened the door I was unsurprised to find the Professor grading essays, even this early in the term. I was even less surprised to see that there was almost more red ink than black on whoever's assignment he was grading currently. I sat in the visitor's chair and waited.

After finishing, Snape simply stood and motioned for me to follow him. We took the same path we had the night of the Welcoming Feast to get to his quarters. Once we were both settled in our respective seats the Potions Master said, "You read the entire book?"

I nodded my affirmation. "Twice." He motioned for me to proceed. "Empyreal Nymphs are – to over simplify it – just extremely powerful witches or wizards that have no dark magic in their core, correct?"

"Yes. After that book was published it was discovered that Empyreal Nymphs aren't actually related to any type of nymph at all; due to their peaceful natures they had retreated into the wilderness in order to escape one of the wizarding wars or another. By the time they were rediscovered a century or two had passed and the language in that area had changed so dramatically that, to regular wizards, it sounded like the Empyreal Nymphs were talking a language all their own."

I nodded. At least now I knew wasn't all of a sudden going to want to become a vegetarian or go out and live in the Forbidden Forest. "It said that the shadow – the one inside my core – is my 'other self', what does that mean, exactly?" It had actually gone on to say that the shadow really did guard the pillar of light so that the dark magic I manufacture when I use dark spells isn't absorbed into core, because that can – apparently - be fatal.

"I believe it's similar to an animagus form, but with additional properties. The book was originally written in ancient German and some of the translation," he paused to grimace, "is less than satisfactory." I could just imagine Snape grading that translators work with his red ink and hippogriff quill…

"Additional properties?" The book had been vague about the shadowed animal, only going as far as to say that it would be a magical animal that fit the person.

"As you know it is most likely a magical animal, something that is normally impossible. Also, there have been various theories staying that an Empyreal Nymphis compelled to changed forms quite often. There is, however, no evidence neither disproving nor approving the hypothesis that Empyreal Nymphs can utilize the magical abilities of their secondary form."

Snape paused, waiting for additional question, when none came he continued speaking, "Because of this it imperative that you learn to achieve your animagus form, and because we have no documentation on how an Empyreal Nymph might do that, we're simply going to go about it as if you are a perfectly normal witch. That being said, however, achieving an animagus is a very difficult task and you are only in your fifth year of schooling. That is why I have decided to give you until the holidays to study on your own. Under no circumstances are you to attempt any part of the transformation on your own.

"Until the holidays we will be continuing our study of warding during our private lessons. Lessons will be Tuesdays and Fridays, directly after dinner, here. Understood?"

I, again, nodded my affirmation. "Completely."

"Good," the Professor replied before standing from his chair and stalking over to one of his shelves, where he proceeded to pull four tomes from the shelf before stalking across the room to a different shelf and pulling yet another book from its aggregation. "I want you to read these," he said as he turned around and placed the pile of books on the coffee table in front of me. "These are the leading references when it comes to animagus transformations," he informed me as he held up the four books he had grabbed off the shelves first, "and this," he held up the book he had grabbed last, "is what Friday's lesson will be about; I recommend you read up through at least chapter seven by then."

The next Friday, I headed to Snape's office as usual, only to find him waiting for me outside the classroom door. "We will be dispensing with the lesson plan we had discussed on Tuesday, Miss Tera. Follow me."

Dispensing with the lesson plan? To do what, exactly? Regardless, I followed Snape down the familiar corridors until we were in the familiar dungeon passageways, then we continued until we were in unfamiliar – to me at least – channels deep underground. There were layers of dirt and grime so thick we left foot prints, spider webs hung on every available surface and shone in the dim light provided only by the wall sconces that lit as we approached and doused themselves after we'd moved on, the smell of mold and dust filled the damp air with a scent of prevailing disuse.

Eventually we came to the portrait of a dark haired man sitting in a leather chair, behind him stood a forever bubbling cauldron. "Severus, come to visit? Tell me, is that dreadful war still going on?"

"No, Salazar, we're here on business, not a social visit." Salazar? As in Salazar Slytherin? That would be an interesting social visit.

"I take it that the war is still going on, then. Who is this we you're talking about, Severus?"

Snape pushed me closer to the portrait as he introduced me to the famous wizard, "This is Cassandra Tera, a fifth year Slytherin."

"Hmm. And why show her the secret of Slytherin House, Severus Snape?" Salazar's tone had formal as he asked Snape the question, as if he was asking for a password.

"She is an ally, a friend. I trust her to become our Protector," Snape repeated back in the same formal tone.

"Very well, then," Slytherin said with a nod. "But before she can enter I have to test her, as I have done everyone that has asked for entry."

Okay, that might have scared me a little had Snape not leaned down and whispered, "Your shields, he's going to test your shields," in my ear. Without saying a word a lifted my eyes to meet those of a man that had been for over a thousand years, yet here he was attempting to force his way into my mind.

It barely lasted a minute before it was over and the painted figure was staring at me in shock. "Your shields…" Then, inexplicably, he broke into a grin and turned to Snape, "Yes, Severus, I do believe our secrets will be safe with this one." And that was all he said before the portrait swung open to reveal a small circular room, that contained only a wood burning stove (in the place of a fireplace), a simple, black leather couch pushed up against one of the walls, and, oddly enough, a large rectangular cushion that was surrounded by a circle of runes that dominated the room.

"Professor, what is this place?" I asked as I looked around the sparsely decorated room.

Instead of answering my question Snape started pacing and launched into lecture, "The Hogwarts' wards stretch far and wide and are modified as needed by the current Headmaster. The founders were the ones to cast the original wards, so, as is fitting, there are four places from which the wards can be accessed.

"This is Slytherin's," he said, gesturing to the room around us. "The other three are, presumably, somewhere close to either their common room or their head of house quarters. The exception to this is Gryffindor's access point, which is located either in, or connecting to, the Headmaster's office." Snape slowly turned to face me, looking me in the eye as he said, "Each access point is a closely guarded secret. An enemy knowing the location of even just one access point would put the school in horrible danger; if someone ever discovered the location of all four they would have complete control over the school's wards, enabling them to leave us defenseless, or, even worse, trap us in to massacred. This is a secret you need to guard in the deepest, most highly protected mental vault you can create, Cassandra Tera, do I make myself clear?"

"Crystal," I said around the lump in my throat.

"Good," he said as he straightened and turned away. "Then, I believe our lesson is over."


	6. Attack on the Wards

**AN: Okay, all the chapters have been rewritten. If you haven't read the new versions, again, _GO DO IT!_ There are new scenes and new terminology. No, the major plot points have not changed, but I promise, you will be INCREDIBLY confused if you haven't read the new and - hopefully - improved versions. (Posted 12 December, 2013)**

Chapter Six

I was in Snape's Defense class learning about memory charms and how to defend against them when Filch came running in and gasped, "Attack – on the – wards – Dumbledore needs – help."

Of course my classmates had starting panicking as soon as they heard the word attack and Snape was forced to yell over the hysteria, "Everyone is to go to their dormitories." When he got no response from his terrified class he resorted to silencing all of us with a wave of his wand. Once everyone realized that, while their mouths were still moving, they were making no sound, they turned to Snape who repeated, "Everyone is to go to their dormitories, immediately."

As I was on my way out the door Snape grabbed my wrist to hold me back. "You, however, Miss Tera," he said after all of my classmates had cleared the room, "are going to come with me."

I had to practically run to keep up with Snape's long legs and fast pace. I had a hunch about where we were going, but I really hoped I was wrong. To my vast relief I was, wrong that is. We went to the potions room where everyone was panicking because, evidently, they had heard the news. "Silence!" Snape yelled and everyone froze. "Everyone is to go to their dormitories _silently._"

Everyone did as they were told, the Gryffindor and Slytherin sixth years went in opposite directions as they exited the door. Snape grabbed Malfoy's wrist just as he had grabbed mine and told him, "I need you to come with me and Miss Tera." He pointed to the Golden Trio who had hung back, probably to try and convince him that they wanted to help, "Potter, you are to go to the Headmaster's office and follow his instructions to the letter, no questions asked; Granger, Weasley, if you so much as think about going anywhere but Gryffindor Tower I will personally see that, if the school is still standing when this is all over, you are on the train home tonight." With that the Great Bat of the Dungeons whirled around and headed even deeper into his domain.

It was organized chaos, I realized as I followed Snape; the older students were comforting and helping the younger kids as best as they could while trying to get them to the dormitories as quickly as possible. Teachers were nowhere in sight. Soon we were past the hordes of students and in the dungeon maze leading to Slytherin's portrait. Snape stopped suddenly, turned to Malfoy with his wand drawn and cast a silent stunning spell, making sure to cast _mobilicorpus _before Malfoy could hit the ground.

I looked at Snape in confusion before I realized the logic behind it. Snape's words only confirmed my suspicions, "Just because I brought him to help doesn't mean I'm going to reveal its location. He'll know what it looks like inside, but not where it is." I nodded in understanding and we off again. Around every corner I half expected to see death eaters waiting for us. I would have to ask Snape just how they could attack the wards from the outside.

After a whirlwind of tunnels and turns we arrived at the Salazar Slytherin's portrait. "What took you two so long? They're getting through fast." Neither of us was listening though because the portrait had already opened.

Snape revived Malfoy before turning to me and saying, "You'll have to take the bind off, completely. If they're getting through this fast it's possible the wards were already damaged before the attack. Malfoy and I will hold them until you're done."

I sat down and took a deep breath before closing my and focusing on getting to my core. When I got there I tried to not get distracted by the changes or the shadowed guardian. I stepped up to the pillar of light, the shadow dogging my every step. I closed my eyes and jumped in; down, down, down I fell until I landed hard on what felt like a sheet of glass. I opened my eyes, expecting to be blinded, instead I was simply surrounded by what looked and felt like sunshine, beneath me was indeed a piece of glass. Below the glass I could see more light, except instead of being sunshine yellow this light was pure white and I could feel its heat through the soles of my shoes. For a crazy moment my thoughts went to the fish that lived in the pillar of light, would releasing this hot, white light kill them?

I shook my head and caught sight of the shadow. It had followed me down and was sitting calmly beside me, as if waiting to see what my next move would be. Well, I thought, I need to break this, regardless of what it will do to the fish. So I jumped and landed hard causing the glass to crack. Then, that one crack started to spread. Within moments it spanned the entire area of the glass. I was just about to jump again when, suddenly, the force of the light below the glass caused the shatter altogether.

I was launched upward. I was moving so fast I was forced to close my eyes to prevent them from falling out of my head – or something equally disastrous. Instead of waiting to see if what would happen to me if I died in my core, I started concentrating on returning to the physical world as quickly as possible.

As soon as I felt the ground beneath me again I could feel the magic inside of me more so than ever before; it was like fire in my veins, a light that should've been visible through my skin. I knew I couldn't control it, and I couldn't contain it for much longer either. Without even opening my eyes I told Snape and Malfoy, "Go. Get out. I'm not going to be able to control it much longer."

Only after I heard the portrait close behind them did I open my eyes and walk into the circle. I didn't even sit down; I simply pushed the magic that was bubbling out of me into the wards with as much force as I could manage. That was all I could feel, the magic leaving me and flowing into the wards, the power that I wielded.

I don't know how long I stood like that, how long it took for the rest of my senses to return to me. The first thing I became conscious of was the fact that the wards were no longer being attacked. As soon as I realized it was no longer needed I stopped pushing power into the wards and sank down onto the cushion inside of the ward circle. The second and third things I became aware of in quick succession were that my legs and feet hurt and it was _cold _down here.

Eventually, I found the energy to stand and hopefully leave the damp and cold dungeon, the smelled faintly of ash.

Wait. What?

Why did it smell like ash? Looking around myself I was taken aback wreckage I found around me; the couch that had been against the back wall was now in pieces strewn across the room leaving feathers floating in the air and covering the floor in places; the wood stove had been wrenched from its supports both on the floor and the wall, and it looked as if it had been through a hurricane with the amount of dents it was sporting and the amount of ash that had been spread everywhere. Even the rug had rips and tears; it was, in fact, hanging on the wall. The only place in the entire room that spared was what had been inside the circle of runes.

I was only physically tired; despite the fact that I had just spent who knows how long pushing an unheard of amount of magic into the wards, magically, I felt good, powerful, out of control – and that was scary.


	7. Meetings

Chapter Seven

I excited the secret room to find complete silence. As the portrait swung shut behind me Salazar looked at me strangely, "In all my years – both living and painted – I have never felt such enormous power. Miss Tera, you …" he trailed off, shaking his head and looking at his feet which were out of the frame.

When he failed to finish his sentence I simply left. The silence followed me as I walked the hallways usually filled boisterous students. It seemed as though even the ghosts and portraits had been drafted to help secure the castle for an attack that had seemed eminent for there was nothing but the sound of my breathing, the beating of my heart, and my shadow following alongside me, but even it seemed to waver in the flickering torchlight. I was alone with my thoughts and my magic.

I hadn't bothered trying to replace the bind before I'd left the secret room, I didn't even know if it would've been possible. I was relying on my masking abilities to travel the castle without raising an alarm. I knew I would be able hide the majority of my core, my magic, but would I be able to control the amount of magic I had unleashed?

I needed to return to my core. I needed to make sure that I hadn't destroyed its inherent balance, and if I had, I needed to find a way to fix it before I accidently did something disastrous. I also needed to identify that animal, the shadowed guardian. And, I _really_ wanted to check on the fish that lived in the pillar of light; regardless of the fact that they weren't technically _alive_ didn't make the fact that killing something in my core, by accident, couldn't mean good things.

After a while of aimless wandering I was found by Professor Snape (not that I'd been trying to hide or anything). "The headmaster requests your presence," Snape told me as he approached.

"Requests or demands?" I asked with a slight smile, walking toward the Potion's Master.

"Demands, Miss Tera."

"Where did you go, after?" I asked as we slowly made our way to the headmaster's office.

"I escorted Mr. Malfoy to the Slytherin common room and made my way to the headmaster's office, where I waited for the headmaster and Potter to return from the Gryffindor access point," Snape said matter-of-factly, not letting on that by "escort" he meant "levitated" nor that his wait in the headmaster's office was probably one of the worst he'd ever had to endure.

"How is Boy Wonder handling the most recent attack?" I asked as we turned yet another corner, coming ever closer to our destination.

Snape sneered. "He had a 'vision' just before the announcement was sent out. He almost succeeded in blowing up everyone in the room; would have had it not been for Granger." I knew, somewhere deep inside, Snape had a grudging respect for Hermione Granger because she was smart, brave and able to think on her feet. She was – usually – the embodiment of all the good characteristics of Gryffindor house, if one was willing to over-look her choice in friends.

As we entered the right hallway I sighed and asked Snape, "So, what's the plan?"

Snape glanced sharply at me before focuses once more on what lie ahead. "The headmaster has called a meeting for tonight. No doubt he will inform everyone of both the attack on the school and your existence at the same time. I will be blamed for not revealing you earlier, not giving you over for proper brain-washing the moment I learned of your potential." He looked at me again before saying, "They will try to convince me to recruit you; I will refuse, telling them that you're neutral and wish to have no part in the war," this last part was said with utter conviction.

I shook my head, but was unable to say anything for we had arrived before the statue leading to Dumbledore's office. Snape muttered the password (which everyone knew was always one kind of muggle sweet or another) and we climbed the spiral staircase.

"Ah, Severus here at last. Miss Tera, I presume?" Dumbledore greeted us, walking over to me. "I'm dreadfully sorry, but I don't think we've ever been properly introduced, Cassandra."

I didn't say a word; I kept my eyes on Dumbledore even though I could feel Potter staring at me. _Lovely, I think he recognizes me_, I thought to myself as I pretended to ignore him altogether.

"It was a very brave thing you did today, Cassandra. Standing up against Lord Voldemort is a death sentence for some," Dumbledore said to me, obviously thinking I'd been sorted into the wrong house.

My gaze sharpened into a glare. "Bravery is for idiots with hero complexes. That, what I did today, is called self-preservation. I was protecting myself from a very early, painful death, or worse: being used by someone who likes to play God just because they think I make an interest pawn. No, Professor, I'm not brave, and don't insult me by deluding yourself to think so."

Yet, when I finished speaking, Dumbledore's eyes were still twinkling behind his half-moon spectacles, he still had a partial smile on his face and he had the audacity to ask me, "Would you care for some tea? A lemon drop, perhaps?"

I turned to look at Snape who was staring stonily at the headmaster. I sighed, deciding that Dumbledore was old and needed things spelled out for him, simply. "No, Professor Dumbledore, I do not tea or a lemon drop. I want you to forget that we ever met face-to-face; I want you to forget that you have a face and a name to put with whatever you know about my power; I want to remain neutral. I don't want any part in this war. I'm not going to fight in it, not for the Light, not for the Dark. You have my word that I will not become your enemy, but I _will not_ fight this war, and there's nothing you can do that will convince me to change my mind."

Then, I think, Dumbledore's smile might have faded and the twinkle in his eyes diminished. "Cassandra, I didn't have to do anything to convince you to fight alongside me in this war, you did it willingly when you accessed the wards and starting feeding them magic. You have already entered the war, and you have staked yourself against the Dark Lord."

I shook my head. "No, Headmaster, I did not join the war, I fought in one battle. I'm sure there will be many more before a victor is named. I joined this battle because it was directly attacking me and innocent bystanders.

"Draco Malfoy also helped with the wards today; does that mean he has deserted his family and joined the Light? No, he was protecting his own life, just as I was protecting mine and the lives of the other children in this school. If you, Headmaster, were attacking a school full of helpless children I would protect them, as would many others. Does that mean we fight for the Dark? No, it means we're doing what we think is right. There is no Dark and Light, Headmaster; there's just two different sides fighting against each other because they have opposing ideals. There is no good and evil, there are just two sides." The room was silenced. Dumbledore had no response.

After a minute of complete silence, during which Potter stared at me like I was a saint – or possibly mad – Dumbledore shook his head and simply said, "Very well, Miss Tera. It's clear that at this point and time you are not to be dissuaded. Nevertheless, I thank you for your help. Do think on this, though, what will you do if Voldemort wins because you refused to participate? He will still want to use your power."

I smiled. "Not even the Dark Lord's powers are limitless, Headmaster. Britain is just an island, I'm sure I could find a safe haven, even if it meant snapping my own wand and living as a muggle for the rest of my life." That wiped the smile off his face.

After that we were all dismissed. Snape, Potter and I left the headmaster's office together but Snape left in a rush, bumping my shoulder as he brushed past me on his way to the spiral staircase. I followed after him, at a slightly more sedate pace. Unfortunately, this allowed Potter to catch up with me, falling in pace with me as walked down the hall.

"You…" Potter started to say, almost inaudible, before clearing his throat and starting again, "You're a Slytherin. In fact, you're the Slytherin that walked back with Snape and me before the Welcoming Feast because we were late."

"Yes, Potter, bravo. Your skills of deduction are beyond compare. Any other startling revelations you feel the need to make public?" I asked bitingly.

Suddenly, Potter stopped walking, grabbed my wrist and pulled me to one of the numerous, shadowed alcoves that littered the halls of Hogwarts. "Listen, I don't know who you think you are, but Voldemort is an evil beyond compare. He does things to people, tortures them, and kills them, for sport. He killed-"

"Your parents. And he's the reason your godfather is dead. Potter, I meant what I said back there, every last word. Don't think that just because you've been heralded 'the Chosen One' you can convince me to join in the fight." I retched my wrist out of his grasp. "And Potter, you're not the only one that's lost family in this war."

I was in my dormitory before I found it. It was a crumpled little note in the pocket of my robe that I discovered as I was taking off my robe before meditating. Short and to the point, it was written in familiar, spiky handwriting.

_Meet me in my office as soon as possible. I'll be waiting._

_S.S._

He must have slipped in my pocket on his way out of the headmaster's office, not wanting to say anything in front of Potter.

Releasing yet another sigh, I hurried to put my robe back on and exit first the dormitory and then the common room altogether. I walked the halls at a brisk pace and couldn't help but notice that the halls were still quieter and emptier than usual.

The remainder of today's class's had been canceled, and, as today was Friday, this would normally have been cause for a celebration. Yet, most students remained in the safety of their common rooms, not sure if another attack was on the horizon, but wanting the added feeling of security regardless. In fact, most of the students that were out braving the halls were Ravenclaws and most were either going to or leaving the library. Maybe the place they safest wasn't hiding away in their common room but hiding in mounds of knowledge they amassed from the multitudes of books they scoured, hoping to forget reality, if only temporarily; in all honesties, it didn't sound like a bad idea.

Eventually I arrived at Snape's office to find him grading essays in with his trademark viciousness and red ink. I knocked lightly on the open door. Snape looked up from the essay he had been in the middle of grading and stood up, motioning for me to follow him. We entered his familiar sitting room and, as I sank into his leather couch, I suddenly realized that this was one of the only places in all of Hogwarts that I felt truly safe.

Before Snape could say a word I started talking. "Take me with you to the Order meeting. Dumbledore isn't going to support my neutral standing, and we both know that if you try to support my standing it'll reflect poorly on you, even if Dumbledore doesn't tell people you've been giving me private lessons and everything."

Snape shook his head. "No. It would be breaking part of my oath to tell you where the house is, besides Dumbledore-"

"I'm sure Dumbledore would be over-joyed to see me there. There he has more people that agree with his way of thinking and will have qualms about arguing with me, plus it'll give me a chance to meet the people that have been fight the Dark Lord practically all their lives. I'm sure he'll, in one way or another, point out at least one thing that this war has taken from them," I'd thought about this and stashed all my arguments in mental file folder labeled "How to Get Snape to Take Me to the Meeting of the Fire Pigeons". Unfortunately, I've created a lot of mental file folders with labels that start with "How to Get to Snape to…" and they rarely have enough material in them to last more than five minutes.

"You're underage," he countered.

"I'll be sixteen in two weeks, that's the legal age of consent for - "

"I can't tell you where the house is," he said, cutting me off.

"You don't have to," I said. "You just have to show me."

"I can't take you there without express permission from either Dumbledore or the house owner – who is deceased."

"You don't have to," I repeated. "You just have to show me. You did teach me how to apparate last year, you know."

"I can't tell you the address of the house, Cassandra. How do you plan on apparating to a location under a Fidelius Charm without the address and without being taken their by someone who does?"

"You are going to show me," I said slowly, tapping my head and hoping that my professor hadn't somehow managed to acquire a concussion over the course of the day. Seeing enlightenment brighten his eyes, quickly followed by rage I quickly added, "All you have to do is show me an image of the surrounding outer area so that I have an idea of where to apparate to."

To my infinite surprise Snape glanced at the clock and nodded in defeat. "Great, so when does it start?"

"In fifteen minutes."

Fifteen minutes later found Snape and I at the gates of the school. I'd returned to my dormitory and changed out of my uniform, per Snape's instructions. Instead I was dressed in a green long-sleeved t-shirt and jeans.

When we came to the end of the path I turned to face Snape, looking into his dark eyes. His face remained emotionless as he cautiously dropped his shields, just enough for me to see the image he was projecting at me.

It was a gloomy, muggle street. There was a line of houses before me; brick houses multiple stories tall, light from electrical bulbs and television sets seeped through dirty windows. I could hear dogs barking in the distance, smell rotting garbage and the faint smog that always hovered around muggle places. I could faintly sense Snape's hatred of the place, or was it just what – or who - one of these buildings held that he detested so greatly?

As soon as I started picking up emotions Snape slammed his shields back into place. He turned on his heel and disapparated with a crack, leaving me alone.

I focused on the image I had seen, hoping that I wouldn't end up in the wrong part of the country or getting splinched. As luck would have it I landed right next to my professor, who was waiting for me. Unfortunately, I was still new to apparating and would've fallen had Snape not steadied me with a hand on my shoulder. I was fine after a few moments and able to follow him into a house that had not been part of the image Snape had transferred to me.

Snape lead me through narrow hallways shrouded in shadows. I was surprised when we entered a dining room that was bright, homey and warm. It was brimming with people; there were so many people that even the long, obviously magically enlarged table couldn't fit everyone. The room was loud, with everyone talking at once, having conversations between themselves while they waited for the meeting to start. Yet, everyone went silent went Snape let the door slam behind us.

"Ah, Severus, glad you could make it. Now we can-" Dumbledore broke off when he noticed me standing slightly behind Snape. "Miss Tera, this is an unexpected surprise."

All eyes turned to me. Yet, it was the familiar visage of Mad-Eye Moody that spoke up, "This isn't a garden party, Snape. Guests aren't welcome."

"Unwelcome as she may be, she has a right to be here," Snape stated silkily.

Dumbledore nodded. "You may see it that way, Severus, but that doesn't change the fact that she is underage. As she is also not part of the Order I'm curious as to how you got her here in the first place without breaking your vow."

This was utter bullshit. I'd convinced Snape to bring me; I wasn't going to let Dumbledore kick me out. "Rest assured, Headmaster, he didn't break his vow to bring me here. As for my age, well, considering you're letting a school boy head this war, I think that rule is a bit ridiculous to begin with, don't you?" Silence. Obviously, not many have ever stood up to Dumbledore in front of an audience. "I'm not going to wait outside, Professor. If you're going to say something to all of these people, you're going to do it in front of me."

Dumbledore stared at me for a couple minutes before saying, "Very well." He turned his attention to the room at large and starting talking, "As most of you know, Voldemort attacked Hogwarts today; more specifically he attacked the school's wards. Somehow he managed to do quite a bit of damage before we were able to get to the access points and start feeding the wards additional magic. Severus took Miss Tera and Mister Malfoy with him to the dungeon access point, I took Harry to help me, Pomona took one of her seventh year Hufflepuffs and Filius took one of his more promising sixth year Ravenclaws with him.

"It had seemed like we were fighting a losing battle when, five minutes into the confrontation, there was a sudden increase in the flow of magic into the wards. It was like all our prayers had been answered; like Merlin himself had come to offer us his aid. Not only were we able to fend off the attack, but the wards are stronger now than they have been in all my time as headmaster because that flow of magic didn't stop when the Death Eaters left. No-"

I'd had enough of being painted the hero. I mean, comparing me to Merlin was going a bit over the top. "Yes, thank you, Headmaster; we all get the point: some immensely powerful person came and saved the day."

Dumbledore looked a mite insulted but dropped the topic all the same, "I've come to discover that this 'immensely powerful person', as Miss Tera says, is in fact, Miss Tera herself."

Everyone looked shocked; obviously they didn't think I looked very threatening. It was a familiar, thin man with brown hair and kind eyes that first regained the ability to speak. "You said that Severus took both Miss Tera and Mister Malfoy down to the dungeon access point with him, how can you be sure that this surge of power wasn't just from their combined efforts?" Lupin. This man was Professor Lupin, my first Defense Against the Darks Arts professor. If he remembered me it was completely reasonable that he would find it hard to believe I held great power considering the fact that I hadn't done very well on the practical aspects of his class. In fact, if I remembered correctly I'd had quite a bit of trouble on spells that the other children had found to be incredibly simple.

Dumbledore nodded at Lupin, as if telling him that his question was acceptable before answering, "While all three went in together, Severus was waiting for me in my office when I exited my own access point, and it's been reported that Mister Malfoy was seen entering the Slytherin common room only a quarter of an hour after the rest of Slytherin house; while Miss Tera only surfaced an hour after the all clear was sounded."

A bald, black man seated next to Lupin was the next to question Dumbledore, "You're saying that this girl," his eyes flicked to me, "was able to produce more magic than everyone else in all of the other access points _combined_?"

This question made Dumbledore hesitate. "Perhaps not combined, but she certainly produced more magical power than any of the access points, yes."

In response to Dumbledore's answer two voices said, in unison, "Wicked." Immediately my gaze was drawn to the unmistakable faces of the Weasley twins. I'd seen them around school, obviously, and I'd seen their sendoff prank-slash-distraction. While I hadn't been taking my OWLs at the time it was still quite impressive. In truth, they were legendary, no matter what house you belonged to.

Moody rolled his eye. I was surprised he didn't have a doubtful question to ask Dumbledore based on my performance in _his_ class. "So you've found a powerful witch. What are you going to do with her?"

At this, I smiled. "Nothing. No one is going to do anything with me, on account of the fact that I'm _neutral_, a small tidbit I see you've managed to leave out, Headmaster," I answered before Dumbledore could get a word in.

Moody didn't react to my answer. A plump, red-headed witch, on the other hand, immediately said, "Of course, she's not going to be doing anything. She's a child, for gods' sake. What's wrong with you?"

"Molly…" Dumbledore said. "We can't fight this was alone; there simply aren't enough good people left." Dumbledore returned his attention to me. "Miss Tera, you can no longer claim to be neutral. Attending this meeting declares your status louder than any vocal statement ever could; this is an Order of the Phoenix meeting, and we fight against Voldemort."

"Headmaster, I'm here to make sure that my neutral status is maintained. I told you this afternoon that there is nothing you can do to convince to join this war. Yes, I helped people this afternoon, but I refuse to _kill_ people like you would have me do. So keep me _out_ of your plans.

"Now that I've made this meeting completely useless, how about we all go home?" I finished with a sweet smile. Nobody moved, probably because they were scared shitless. Somewhere over the course of my little speech my control had slipped, slightly. Now, my magic was thick in the air and everyone could feel it.

Ever so slowly, Dumbledore got up, walked to the fireplace and flooed back to his office. After he'd vanished and the room had calmed, Molly Weasley walked over to me and said, "I know you think you're doing the right thing, but Dumbledore really does know best, dear."

I turned my sweet smile on her and said slowly, carefully, "It's hard to tell if Dumbledore knows best, considering he's the only one that knows anything at all." I turned away and was ready to walk out of the room, when I looked over my shoulder at her to say, "I'm not child, haven't been for a long time, so don't treat me like one."

**AN: I finished the editing! I hope to have a new chapter up soon. Personally, I think it'd be really cool if I could upload a chapter Christmas Day, you know, as a Christmas present to you guys but that's probably not going to happen (considering I'll probably spend Christmas Day either on the computer setting up other peoples' electronic devices or playing video games, or some combination thereof). You guys'll just have to settle for a belated Christmas present.**

**Don't forget to leave a review.**

**Up next: Confrontations with Malfoy**


	8. Save Fanfiction - I offer bribes!

Okay, so, I don't know if you guys have heard or not, but there's a government movement going on that's threatening fanfiction and sites like it (sites that allow people to infringe on copyrights even though they aren't making any money off of it). To stop this there's a petition - you know, like there is for everything - but it need 100,000 signatures by March 19th. To sign go to petitions. whitehouse. Gov / petition / stop - sopa - 2014 /q0Vkk0Z (just remove the spaces, or you can search SOPA 2014.

If it's any encouragement, my birthday is on the 20th, so it would be an early birthday present. Also, if sign I promise I will not only post a chapter, but I will give out story recommendations (if you want one). To get a story recommendation you have to post a review telling me that you signed the petition, though.

I hope this works,

Veronica Mitchell


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